A Book on Viruses and Bacterial Hosts
Update: Quantitative Viral Ecology: Dynamics of Viruses and Their Microbial Hosts won the award for best postgraduate textbook from the Royal Society of Biology.
Research grant consulting has great benefits. Reviewing and editing the proposals keeps me current in across the life sciences. In fields outside the life sciences, I serve as your colleague and novice or lay expert reviewer from another department. About two years ago, a book editing opportunity came my way through Twitter. In a Twitter conversation Jung Choi @jung_gt was following, someone complained about not getting research grants funded or leaving science and replied “or hire my wife” @grantsciencelab. In less than five minutes, his colleague Joshua Weitz, who was also following the conversation and said, “What’s this about hiring your wife?”
It’s July: NSF Career Proposals Due Soon
It’s that time of year again. How did July arrive so fast? Deferred home maintenance and the necessary home improvement kept my attention for most of the Spring and away from consulting. Career proposals are due between 7/20/2016 & 7/22/2016 depending on the directorate, but you knew that already. Last year, I summarized a dissertation on successful NSF Career Proposals into a free 10 page guide, Secrets of Successful NSF Career Proposals. Just click on the title to enter your information to receive the report. Use this handy guide to polish your proposal narrative for submission later this month.
Enjoy the summer. It’s time to get caught up on all that deferred research, renovation, and most importantly rest. Don’t forget to have some fun too. The academic grind will begin all too soon in August for many. It’s also not too late to lock in review plan pricing for the rest of the year. My flat fees will go up on or around August 1. You can get on the list here.
Deb Cook PhD
Recruiters and Reviewers: Layman, Novice, Expert
It’s a new year and a new way to think about research grants. Grant consulting represents a possible alternative career path to academia for doctorate holding folks, especially scientists. Prior experience as a PI or Co-PI combined with review and panel participation probably rules out early career scientists, but it’s an ideal for the mid or late alternative career plan.
At the end of 2015, the higher education news media published many career advice articles, including ones on alternate careers directed at doctorate holding folk.